NASA Partners With Discovery Communications for 50th Anniversary

WASHINGTON - NASA and Discovery Communications will join in a broad media partnership to commemorate the space program’s 50th anniversary. The space agency, which was created by the National Aeronautics and Space Act, began operations on Oct. 1, 1958.

The announcement was made Wednesday in New York at a premiere screening of “In the Shadow of the Moon,” a film in which crew members from NASA’s Apollo missions tell their story in their own words. Discovery Channel will air the world television premiere of the film in the summer of 2008.

“This partnership with Discovery enables NASA to bring the excitement of 50 years of exploration and discovery to a wider audience,” said Robert Hopkins, NASA chief of Strategic Communications, Headquarters, Washington. “This leverages NASA’s compelling content with Discovery’s state-of-the-art production capability and technology to tell the NASA story - past, present and future - through a variety of media and platforms.”

The partnership will encompass on-air and online components as well as grassroots activities throughout 2008, including educational workshops and local screenings.

Special programming on Discovery in the spring and summer of 2008 will celebrate NASA with never-before-seen archival footage. Podcasts and interactive features at Discovery’s Web site will enable viewers and users to take a closer look at NASA’s history and its plans for the future.

“We honor not only 50 years of wonder, achievement and surprise; but also look toward a bright future of new discoveries. Our planned 2008 specials and series documenting NASA’s greatest moments will inspire a new generation to explore and innovate,” said Jane Root, president and general manager, Discovery Channel and The Science Channel, Silver Spring, Md.

NASA and Discovery are teaming through a non-exclusive Space Act Agreement with no exchange of funds.